Lilium
by ffshellct
Summary: Lily Joyce Summers, daughter of Buffy and Angel, travels to the past in order to change the future and prevent a full-scale demonic war from being unleashed. Her mission? Stop her mothers death at the hands of Glory. **Adopted and Re-imagined**
1. Lily

\- **Lilium** -

* * *

**Summary** \- Lily Joyce Summers, daughter of Buffy and Angel, travels to the past in order to change the future and prevent a full-scale demonic war from being unleashed. Her mission? Stop her mothers death at the hands of Glory. ****Adopted and Re-imagined** B/A S/F W/O X/D**

**There will be mentions of other pairings however, like B/R W/T X/A (Buffy & Spike Friendship)**

**Adoption** \- This is a fanfiction idea adopted from Lady Dawson, of her brilliant, yet abandoned, fanfiction 'T_ime and Time Again_', I loved the idea and hated that it was abandoned, so the fic was adopted, I have kept the basic premise but I have drastically changed it to fit into a more original storyline, instead of a direct copy, though obviously the basic premise is still the same.

**Disclaimer - **The Buffyverse is owned by Joss and all relevant parties, some of the OC's are mine.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

She was sure it wouldn't end like this, Lily Summers was nothing if not stubborn- like her mother some would say, she knew her mother had died multiple times and yet she hadn't let that bring her down, 'eh, _kind of' _she thought.

"Come out, come out little Slayer… we know you're around here somewhere!"

The place around was in ruin and Lily sat up against a fallen pillar, big enough to just keep her out of sight whilst she recuperated her lost breath, a quick survey of the area showed dust and debris everywhere, blood matted her hair from a shallow cut and her clothes had seen better days- then again, since the war started, things like clothes and fancy hairdos were trivial, even for a 13 year old, no time to worry about school whilst, you know, the world was on the brink of collapse right?

Glancing over her shoulder, she caught a peek of the 4 vampires encroaching on her position, spitting vitriol at her with the intent to hit where it hurts, her heart- though, she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of turning into metaphorical dust.

"No Mommy Slayer and Daddy Traitor to protect you now is there… why don't you come out, we'll gladly send you to them!" There was rapturous laughter after that one.

That did it. Lily stood up and confronted them head on, after all, she had a reputation to uphold around here. "Alright, you've had your fun, thrown in a few insults, yada yada yada, can we get to the fighting now?" she sounded confident, and her award winning smile did little to shatter that illusion.

They paused, a frown marring each of their features. '_Ha, knew it, fledglings, all bark and no bite_' now she was supremely confident.

They were virtually nondescript, your usual run of the mill looking creatures of the night, four males, though quite large... she surmised that they thought she was easy pickings, after all she was only young and quite… vertically challenged- '_though that didn't stop mom,'_ she inwardly smiled at the image of her mother pouting the good pout when reminded of this fact.

No time to reminisce now, she was in a little predicament and she needed to get back to HQ. Her dark green eyes shifted between each of the fledglings, did they want anything in particular she wondered, or a slayer trophy for their undead mantle.

"She's a cute one," you could virtually hear the malice between the fangs, they all turned to the vocal one with amusement. "I bet that slayer blood is sweet-" His eyes lit up, a gold shimmering twinkle. "Better yet, let's make her… join us."

A very unladylike chortling broke through the night, "Ahahaha, okay, easy there deadite, the only thing i'll be joining is... hmm a chainsaw to my arm." Lily looked to the side, adopting a classical thinking pose. The fledgling was enraged at her dismissal and languidly moved towards her- "or maybe some kind of pneumatic stake?" The fledgling roared and leapt towards her at a surprisingly fast pace.

She smirked, '_Ha, gotcha._' With her own burst of speed, she met the fledgling half way and kicked him towards the fringes of their little arena, where he landed sweetly on some wooden debris, the only noise to pierce the air after that was the cry of a dusted vampire.

"Okay so, home-run right? I mean come on guys that was a hell of a shot." Another one shot towards her in a fury, not one to be outdone, Lily pulled out a stake from her pocket and quickly jammed it into the heart. Another one down.

"Another one bites the dust." She was getting cocky, she knew it, they knew it, and yet… she was having fun, more fun than she'd had in a while.

They began to circle her, eyes darting from one to the other, she visualized how she could approach this one, '_Do i knock one to the side, take them one at a time, that would be the smart thing to do, that would be the __**Mom**_ _thing to do, but…' _she smirked as they both ran at her, a classic pincer attack.

Looking down at both her hands, 2 stakes protruded from the her sleeves in quick succession before shooting both her arms out just in time to catch the two vampires by surprise, right into vamp Achilles heel, the hearts.

Taking stock of her situation, she had to laugh, "Thanks for that one Dad." a sad smile spread across her face, '_No time for that now-'_ she often found she had to scold herself for thinking of these things at the most inopportune moments. '_Time to get back, i bet the twins are worried sick._' She turned around, dusting herself down a little, and took a few steps.

Clapping, a single source, behind her, a bit further back from where the fledglings stood. It froze her to the spot, unnerving her a little that someone was watching the display and that she had not noticed.

"Okay, it's late, i'm tired, and I don't wanna play games, show yourself." Her bravado was going to get her killed one day.

Two figures appeared from the shadows, it was so smooth she could swear that they were shadow incarnate.

"Very well Slayer… I must admit, that was an impressive display." Male, he looked old, older than any vampire she had ever seen, his features looked melted to his face.

"Especially for one so young and inexperienced." Female, she looked young, her otherworldly features were hidden but Lily could sense she was a vampire too, one could say she was pretty, if nothing else, blonde too.

"Well i'm glad I could provide free entertainment for you guys, but now sadly we're out of actors, you two care to audition?"

They looked at her amused. Her stomach did that weird dropping feeling and she swallowed, **hard**, '_okay keep your head, remember, cool head, cool heart, cool life.'_ Her attempt at psyching herself up was failing miserably, though she hoped they couldn't sense this, she found herself wilting under the piercing gaze of what was obviously two very powerful and dangerous vampires, it practically wafted from them in droves.

"How exceedingly arrogant you are, just like her… but you have no idea who I am, do you?" The male spoke up, she couldn't tell but he seemed vaguely familiar, like she should know who he was, but couldn't place him.

"Count Chocula? You know, I really need to thank you for that cere-" The woman's laughter cut her off.

"You are certainly your mothers daughter, full of quips and sunshine, and look where that got her-" Lily stiffened. "Dead, drained of all that slayer blood, lifeless, broken and alone." Her fists were balling now, she was struggling to keep her emotions in check.

"My Dear Boy… he really did go all away for that _**cheerleader **_mother of yours didn't he. Who then had you. Something that should of been impossible, but yet here you are." She spat out the word cheerleader like it was acid on her tongue. '_Dear Boy...?_' Lily guessed she was talking about her father.

"My mother was more than a cheerleader!" Okay, now she getting was pissed.

"Ah yes a little blonde Slayer, falling in love with the Scourge of Europe, Angelus-" This woman was treading such thin ice that if Lily had stared at it long enough, she'd sure that that ice would melt and this blonde... harpy would think twice about talking bad about her parents again. "That's some Slayer she was, shouldn't she of staked your father?" They could sense they were getting to the young girl.

"Angel," Lily snapped, temper fraying ever more thin. "My father was Angel, not Angelus."

"Hmph, a filthy soul ridden abomination, he was much better with me-" the female vampire looked wistful. "We did so much damage." she almost sounded pathetic in longing.

Okay, now she was intrigued, they knew her parents, that much was clear, but this woman seemed to know her father on a much more personal level. "Who… who are you?"

"You'll find out soon enough, for now, we'll be watching you." The male vampire kept his gaze pinned on her, it was like he was looking through her soul and out the other side. Lily shivered under it's wrath.

Their admission surprised her however, "What, you don't want to fight? Never heard of a vampire that doesn't want to fight before..."

"Now now, we don't wish to fight you because you, my dear child, have an important role to play in coming events." Their grins grew menacing now. This was news to Lily. "Besides, we have no wish to fight family, especially one with so much… potential." Okay now this was headline, front and center page news.

"Family?" It couldn't be surely, were they connected to her father by blood? "What do you mean?"

Their admissions were non forthcoming "Impatient child." this annoyed her, but she was hardly in a position to argue. "We'll see you very soon." And with that, they slipped back into the shadows they came from, almost as if they were never there.

Lily stood there for a moment, trying to fully grasp the encounter she just had, two vampires, old, knew her parents, possibly linked to Dad, she knew this was important, but she had to put it to the back of her mind for the time being, she had a place to be.

Taking one last look around to make sure the coast was clear, she broke into a sprint, heading to HQ and the people there, weaving in and out of desolate streets and ruined buildings, it certainly was a war-zone, old Sunnydale.

* * *

The familiar sign of The Bronze lit up dimly, burning itself into her retinas. The building looked fine, a quick surveying showed no signs of damage or forced entry. '_Phew, seems all is quiet on this front_.' The relief was palpable.

Making sure nobody was around, she quickly walked to the big heavy door and knocked a few times, hoping someone would reply quickly.

"Password?" a hushed female voice whispered from the other side.

"Out. For. A. Walk. Bitch." She rolled her eyes at Spike's choice of password, she was thankful for Spike, really, he and Faith helped the place to run smoothly and most importantly- safely, they helped to take care of everyone, but he certainly had a way with his words.

She sighed, she wished this place was enough, once a nightclub for the youth of Sunnydale- which her mother and friends apparently frequented fairly often to drink and dance and be merry... now a small sanctuary for survivors to come to, to learn, to fight, to defend themselves against oncoming demon hordes. Sunnydale was always a hell hole- literally, but now, she couldn't imagine a worse place. The town was in ruins, it could be defended for only so long before the resolve and the resources started to crumble, now there were demons on every corner and every day was a fight for survival. Plausible deniability was no longer a factor, people couldn't hide from the monsters under their beds anymore, innocence was gone, replaced with a mortal sense of dread, that which was once thought of in fairy tale, was out in the world for all to see and experience, not just the chosen few hand selected to fight it.

In all it's rustic charm the door swung open, Lily wandered inside, looking back at the door guard for this evening- she recognized the rosy cheeked face of Weronika anywhere. Weronika was one of the original orphans of the war, daughter to Polish immigrants, not blessed with knowledge of the demon world, or the strength to fight them, she found herself running from an attack on her house and Lily found her on one of her patrols, before bringing her here, that was 2 years ago now.

"I'm so glad you're okay." The girls embraced each other, over the years they'd formed a close friendship.

"Yeah, me too." Lily said with a weary sigh, tonight's events clearly had taken a toll on her. "Do you know where Sam, Rozzy and Alex are?"

Weronika pointed to a door up the stairs, "They're waiting for you in there."

"Okay thanks" Lily went to walk away, but before she did. "The twins, are they okay?"

"Last I saw Spike and Faith were keeping them entertained, I think one of them stole Spike's favorite mug and tried to hide with it earlier, he wasn't amused." Weronika's face was full of mirth.

Lily laughed, leave it to Spike to get testy over a mug. "I'll see you in a bit okay." She nodded towards the other girl and left towards the door to see the friends she considered family.

When she peered into the room, she saw the aforementioned teenagers deep in conversation around a table.

Samuel Osborne, was 15 years old, with a head of spiky bright red hair and a quiet almost reserved personality, along with his 12 year old sister, Roselyn Osborne, her long strawberry blonde hair hung to mid shoulder, she was somewhat the more excitable one of the two. Sam looked like his father, and Rozzy her mother- at least, from the pictures Lily had seen of Daniel Osborne and her Mother's best friend, Willow Rosenberg.

Sam had unfortunately inherited his fathers werewolf curse, something about boys, testosterone and the male children more likely to inherit the gene, Lily didn't really listen when it was all being explained to her, if she was honest. Rozzy however, had apparently inherited her mothers talent for witchcraft, what with her being one of the most prodigious witches in their little ragtag group of misfits they called- _The Resistance._

Alex Harris was the ever present son of one Xander Harris, with all the wit and charm to go along with it, although Lily was pleased to say that some of it was mellowed out by the genetics of his mother-, Lily's genetics, Summers genetics, one Dawn Summers to be exact. She was happy that she had some blood family around besides the twins. From the pictures he looked like his father, though younger at only 10 years old, yet to hit double digits. But he had Aunt Dawn's bright blue eyes, which i'm sure he will be thankful for as he grows up. Dawn was young, but the war brought people closer together, things happened that perhaps normally wouldn't of...

Lily smiled as she noticed the interaction between Alex and Rozzy, she could tell Alex had a crush on Rozzy, hell she thought it was cute, maybe someday in the future there might be something there and they manage to do what his father and her mother could not, be a couple.

But her wistful smile was really reserved for all 3 of them, for Weronika, for the twins, Spike, Faith, everyone who she could consider family these days. They had seen what a heavy burden being the daughter of the infamous Buffy Summers and Angel could be first hand and had helped her to carry it, helping to shoulder a burden that wasn't theirs to carry.

Coughing to get their attention, Lily walked to the center of the room. "Hey guys, whats the up?" Now noticing the new presence they all looked up from their conversation to smile at Lily, she noticed their excited faces as they made their way closer to her.

"Did you get it?" Rozzy asked, almost giddy.

"Hello to you too Rozzy." There was a teasing glint in Lily's eyes. "Get what?"

"What do you mean what, the item, the reason you went out earlier?" There was exasperation and almost a pleading tone to Rozzy's voice now, the other two looked at Lily in concern.

'_Oh'_ Lily thought, '_I almost forgot with all the… excitement earlier.' _She reached into her pocket and pulled out a key, it looked old- a finely crafted piece of metalwork for sure, but it had certainly seen better days. "You mean this?"

Relief washed over Rozzy's face as she grabbed the key eagerly from Lily's grip.

A chuckle escape from Lily's lips. "Where's the fire Roz?"

Rozzy had the foresight to look sheepish "Sorry..." She mulled over the key, her eyes concentrating hard as she held her hand over the key, power emitting from it. "Yes, this is definitely the right one" she said with some relief. "Okay, so… this is it this time, we're really going through with this. Or I should say, Lily's really going through with this," she added, looking at the Slayer Vampire hybrid with some embarrassment. Lily rolled her eyes. "It's going to be fine, no biggie right? You hop in, stop your Mom from dying, come back here, hello future of sunshine and meadows. Easy." she said with some certainty. Lily wished it was only going to be that easy.

She raised her eyebrow at Rozzy, but looking at Sam and Alex's somewhat disbelieving expressions.

"Hey!" Rozzy exclaimed, giving Sam a little elbow in the ribs for his trouble. "Have a little faith in me yeah, trust me, I know I've made mistakes before, but this time there's no mistaking it, this is the right key-" '_Yeah, mistakes, that's putting it lightly' _thought Lily. "Now are we going to do this or not? The sooner we do this, the sooner we can get forget about this nightmare."

"Your spell going all wiggy is not what i'm worried about Roz." Lily said, a contemplative look on her face. "What i'm more worried about is what we are doing in itself, time travel is waaaayy risky, who know's how I might mess up the future? What if i come back and you all… well you don't exist?" This train of thought worried her greatly.

"Then you'd be doing us all a favor!" Leave it to Alex to make a joke at this time.

They all gave him a pointed look. "Okay, okay. Look I get it, leave it up to you to jump to the worst possible conclusion. But it'll be fine, trust me!"

Sam pointed to his face. "Resolve face."

Lily laughed. "Okay, we're doing this." The teenagers smiled at her, feeling somewhat hopeful. "But, I feel like before we do, I should warn you, there's 2 new vamps in town, ones i haven't seen before."

"Okay" Sam deadpanned. "There's always new vampires showing up here."

"These weren't your average run of the mill vamps." Lily explained. "They were powerful, old, i could feel it coming off them, it was almost suffocating… they also seemed to know my parents quite well-" Lily paused for a second, the last part coming out in almost a whisper. "They said I was family…"

The other three teens exchanged a worried glance between themselves.

"Did you get their names?" Alex inquired.

"No." They gave Lily a look. "Well I did ask they just… weren't an open book, they were closed, like a diary, padlock and everything."

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." Rozzy said. "Although… maybe ask Spike? You know he has ties to your family, especially your Dad, maybe he will know?"

Good idea, Lily thought. "You're right. Okay, you guys get everything setup for tonight, we're doing this. I'm going to speak to Spike… and spend some time with the twins before I go." her smile was sad as she walked out.

The others watched her as she went, emotions laid bare for their friend, the Slayer Vampire hybrid with the world on her shoulders, hoping that today would not be the last time they would all be together.

"Okay sis." Sam asked with renewed vigor. "What do we need to do?"

One thing was for sure, after tonight, nothing would be the same.


	2. Conversations About Dead People

\- **Lilium** -

* * *

**Summary** \- Lily Joyce Summers, daughter of Buffy and Angel, travels to the past in order to change the future and prevent a full-scale demonic war from being unleashed. Her mission? Stop her mothers death at the hands of Glory. ****Adopted and Re-imagined** B/A, S/F, W/O, X/D(future)**

**There will be mentions of other pairings however, like B/R, W/T, X/A, (B/S Friendship)**

**Adoption** \- This is a fanfiction idea adopted from Lady Dawson, of her brilliant, yet abandoned, fanfiction 'T_ime and Time Again_', I loved the idea and hated that it was abandoned, so the fic was adopted, I have kept the basic premise but I have drastically changed it to fit into a more original storyline, instead of a direct copy, though obviously the basic premise is still the same.

**Disclaimer - **The Buffyverse is owned by Joss and all relevant parties, some of the OC's are mine.

**Chapter Note**: Gaelic words - **_D_**_**eirfiúr** = Sister / **Lile** = Lily_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

As Lily approached the door she could hear voices coming from the other side. She leaned on it first of all, basking in the soothing tones of the voices as they sent vibrations through the metal, knowing that two of those voices belonged to her little brother and sister lulled her into a sense of security.

"_Are you going to stand outside the door all day pet?_" A muffled voice emerged. She smirked, of course Spike knew she was there, his sense of smell was second to none.

When she opened the door and peered inside she was immediately struck by two loud screeching voices, "**D****eirfiúr!**" "_D__eirfiúr!_" before two little blurs barreled themselves towards her and attached themselves to her legs.

About managing to steady herself, Lily smiled lovingly down at the two faces that looked up at her with such adoration. '_I love it when they remember their Gaelic lessons,_' she thought, '_Dad said he always wanted to teach somebody Gaelic,_' and who better than his own children? Still, she smiled sadly, this was a few years ago... but she knew that Mom and Dad would be proud all the same.

"Well if it isn't my favorite little troublemakers." she exclaimed with excitement. Indeed, the twins had certainly wormed their way into Lily's heart the moment she saw them for the first time. Her mother had looked so happy that day that she thought her heart might burst at the sight. She remembered it vividly…

* * *

_She'd hidden behind her Dad's legs, it was always handy to have such a tall Dad. Ever the shy one at a young age, her Dad had ushered her into a room along with him. "Come on L__ì__le__, your Mom and I have something to show you." His voice had always had an instant calming affect on her, especially when he used her pet name, Irish for Lily. She knew she was due to be an older sister, she was excited even, she wondered if that's what the big surprise was._

_When she walked through the door and peeked from around her Dad's legs, the first thing she saw was her Mom, laid up in a bed, her golden honey hair splayed out around her, the odd strand stuck to her head with sweat, she looked exhausted, but radiant. She remembered thinking it ironic that she was the one to look like the Angel that day, as her mother ushered her over. "Hey Lils, come here, i have two people i want you to meet." She missed the sound of her mothers voice, it was so warm and full of song..._

_As her father lifted her up onto the bed next to her mother, she was instantly drawn to two infant cries coming from her mothers arms. Noticing her fascination her mother spoke up, smiling. "I want you to say hello to Liam Rupert Summers, and Katherine Celia Summers… you're a big sister now." She couldn't take her eyes off the two tiny figures, covered in blankets. A brother and a sister… twins. Lily had reached out her small hand to the nearest one, Katherine, who held out a tiny fist and grabbed tightly onto Lily's finger, almost as if she sensed her big sisters presence. She didn't notice her parents look at each other, smiling at the adorable sight with such love in their eyes, she was too busy vowing to be the big sister she always knew she was destined to be, and take care of her little siblings, forever._

* * *

"Troublemakers is bloody right-" Lily was snapped out of her reverie by the unmistakable voice of a bleached blonde vampire-with-a-soul. "You know one of these bleeding rugrats ran off with my mug earlier, damn near took me an hour to find em." Spike sounded annoyed, but you could tell it was all in good nature. He leaned against the back wall of the room, eyeing her with amusement.

She turned her head down and noticed that Kathy looked somewhat sheepish. "_E dsrvd it_." Her voice somewhat low and muffled by the fact her face was in Lily's leg. She managed to suppress a laugh and looked back up at Spike, lightly patting Kathy on the head.

"Too much of Peaches in that one, always trying to bloody annoy me." She was well aware of Spike's colorful nicknames for her father, but she didn't admonish him, in fact she suspected the nicknames were his way of saying he liked Angel, not that he would ever admit that of course.

Lily allowed herself a laugh. "Well, I remember being similar at that age-" and she was, always chasing after and tormenting 'Uncle Spike', not at all encouraged by her Father mind you, whilst her mother looked on in barely contained amusement. "That age?" Spike piped up with a chuckle. "You still bloody annoy me now pet, ol Kathy there might be similar to your Dad but you, you got your Mother's damn annoying attitude." He pushed himself off the wall and towards her.

"Come ere Mini Slayer." Spike's nickname for her was twofold, a slight jab at her height, and because she looked like a miniature version of her Mom. "Give ol Uncle Spike a hug, eard you went out earlier. Got the right key this time?" Spike's raised eyebrow indicated his lack of belief that they'd got it right object, **again**, not that she could blame him, last time they managed to open a portal he got his leg stuck inside, after countless 'Bloody hells' and other… curses, they managed to free him, just, before the portal could close and sever his leg.

"Give her some slack Blondie, i'm sure the kids got it right this time." Lily looked up, it wasn't until she had heard her voice that she had noticed Faith sitting over on the sofa towards the left, magazine in hand, watching the interaction between the other four quite happily. "Sides, as long as we keep you away from them, there's no chances of lost limbs right?" Faith looked at her with a grin.

"Oh har har, you know you're lucky i like you Slayer or the Big Bad might just have to kick your-" Lily quickly butted in. "Hey, language, kids present, ringing any bells here?" Spike waved it off, "Yeah yeah, they've heard a lot worse."

Lily gave him a stone faced look. "Not from me!" His incredulous admission betrayed this face… "Yes okay from me... god stop looking at me like Peaches did all broody and mistrusting, makes me want to heave." Oh Spike, always one for dramatics.

She was about to reply when she felt a pulling on her jeans, looking down she suddenly realized what a state she looked, '_Damn i need a shower and a change of clothes before I go all Marty McFly._' she thought.

"Lily, come play with us." The twins were too darn cute, how could she say no to Liam? He'd always vied for the attentions of his big sister. However, she knew she needed to have a quick chat with Spike before getting too distracted.

Smiling down at the boy. "I can do that-" The twins smiles suddenly took on a mega watt brightness. "But, i just need to speak to Uncle Spike first okay." Spike looked at her curiously, but she looked past him to see the clock on the wall, '_Wow, didn't realize it was that late, way past their bed time._' Their smiles dropped a little bit, "If i didn't know any better i'd say it's past both your bedtimes too little ones." A small chastising look towards Spike had the blonde vampire throwing his arms up in innocent protest.

"So!" The volume of Faith's voice had risen, causing everyone to look her way. "Why don't we leave your big sister to chat to Uncle Spike, and then she'll come find you after, mkay?" It was clear the twins didn't want to leave Lily's side, they were quite clingy, what with her being the responsible big sister, and the fact they hadn't seen her all day. "What big sister says goes, tell you what, lets get all washed and ready for bed, then i'm sure ol big sister will come and read to you." Faith looked her way for confirmation.

"Of course!" Lily was actually happy to do so, she hadn't had the chance to for a while.

"Yay! Okay, les go, les go!" With renewed vigor the kids ran over to Faith and tried dragging her towards the door. "Well that certainly put a spring in your step didn't it." she said in ernest.

Lily watched with a smile as the kids aimed for the door. She knew somewhat of Faith's… checkered past through her parents, but she had come to be like a mother to everyone here, especially after what happened... Aunty Faith and Uncle Spike, as they were affectionately known as, had become the heads of the household so to speak, it helped of course that they were together, as a couple, although she hated the frequent PDA's they would engage in. Yuck.

"Okay okay, i'll see you guys in a bit, got my hands full with these two rugrats now." Faith let herself be pulled towards the door, but not before passing by Spike and giving him a quick peck on the lips. Lily rolled her eyes in amusement but Spike caught the action. "Now now Mini Slayer, your parents were a whole lot worse with the affection, bloody sickening infact." Okay so he wasn't wrong, when she was younger she had thought of it as cute, now it was just icky.

She turned towards the kids as they were exiting. "I'll see you guys in a bit okay, love you." The twins had stopped dragging Faith along for a second to turn around to their big sister with big toothy grins "Love too!" And then, they were gone.

Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, she turned around to face Spike, giving him that hug he'd asked for earlier. "Rough night pet?" He'd noticed she seemed somewhat tense.

"Guess you could say that, four vamps, big, gonna need some serious dust busting to clean them up." Spike chuckled, leave it to Lily to make light of a possibly life threatening situation, he remembered when Buffy would act the same way, like Mother like Daughter indeed.

He turned around, lighting up a cigarette and sitting himself down at the table in the middle of the room, motioning her to take a seat too. Lily didn't look too amused, "What did I tell you about smoking around the twins?" He didn't look guilty, "Well they aint ere luv, and I think you're old enough now to see some of the vices of this world." Although she wished she didn't, unlike Spike she couldn't stand the smell.

Sitting down, she looked at Spike for a moment before he spoke up. "So-" he let the word hang in the air for a moment. "You're really going through with this, tonight, I assume." his voice was full of trepidation, he knew what had to be done, but he didn't like it all the same, he'd promised to keep the kids safe, Angel wouldn't let him hear the end of it if he'd known any danger had come to his children under his care, but he shuddered to think what Buffy would do. He just hoped he didn't end up wherever they were when he was finally dust in the wind, or he might look forward to an eternity of getting his ear chewed out.

"Yeah… I don't like it any more than you do Spike, but there's a chance; _a real chance_, that this could work… we need to take it, **I** need to take it." Lily's voice was full of conviction, she'd already committed to the idea some time ago, even knowing the possible consequences of an unknown future, all she knew was that, nothing could be worse than this, death and destruction on a daily basis.

A long drawn out sigh appeared from Spike's lips. "I know, **we** know, pet… It's just, well… oh bloody hell, me and Faith, we worry okay-" He paused for a moment, looking into Lily's face with a softness she very often didn't see from him. "You and the twins, you're like our… bloody nieces and nephew, after… after the Slayer and the pon- Angel left us, they entrusted you to us..."

She had known Spike cared for them, but she was currently seeing him in somewhat of a new light, he'd never been one to be overly emotional, he almost closed himself off a little after the death of her parents. Lily put her hand on top of Spike's that rested on the table, giving him a small smile. "Seriously… thank you, that means a lot to me, and to the twins i'm sure. Mom and Dad would be thankful too…" It was still painful to really bring up her parents too much, it was only a few years ago, but it still feels like a struggle everyday without them, she knew she was lucky to have the people she had around her to help it make it through. It hit the twins hardest, they didn't really understand, and they were too young to really remember much of their parents, that thought saddened her greatly, they had Spike and Faith but it just wasn't the same. But.. she knew, if she could pull her mission off, that they'd be able to grow up with the love of their parents and for that, Lily was willing to go to the ends of the earth.

Spike smirked a little, patting her hand before retracting it. "No need to thank me pet, or Faith for that matter. Not like we had much of a choice anyway." He smiled and took a long drag of his cigarette just as Lily lightly kicked him under the table. Trust him to ruin a good moment.

There was a bit of comfortable silence between them for a moment, both lost in their little worlds. "I owe a lot to your parents-" Lily looked up at Spike, surprised at his admission. "Peaches and I had our problems, god knows i hated the bloody wanker at one point-" He stopped to think for a moment. "We had a long history, and not a particularly good one, still… he taught me everything I knew, looked after me when i was wet behind the ears see, helped me when I got a bleedin soul… but he's also the only person that could make your Mother happy, truly happy that is." She knew all about Spike's ill conceived attempts to woo her Mother many years before she was born, he had a love for her, at first he thought it was an infatuation, being in love with the Slayer.

"As for your Mother… she was an ell of a woman, tiny little thing, easy to make her one brassed off Slayer… but she helped me, had a kind heart that bint, always tried to see the best in things, like your Father and me. At one point-" Spike was full of the dramatic pauses tonight. "I thought I loved her, you know in **that** way, she tried to look past the demon, see me as a man, even though i tried my darnedest to convince her otherwise… but there was two things in the way of my affections." Lily stared at him with some interest, like he was about to divulge some information she had never been privy to before. "Your Father, for one, your mother'd been infatuated with him since 16, even if the ponce went and broke up with her and she dated Captain Cardboard she couldn't let it go, she'd already given her heart away. But I also realised I wasn't in love with her, i loved her as a friend would love another, as family… so i stopped pursuing her, stopped meself from doing all sorts of stupid things, and helped, i mean truly helped, tried to be a part of the gang. Met ol Faithy in the end and well… you know what happened there." By the time he'd finished speaking, he had a genuine smile on his face.

Lily wasn't sure what to say, that was a lot of information to digest, she'd known some of it already, of course, but the emitting of genuine feelings from Spike was something to be cherished, it wasn't like it happened everyday. She settled for just smiling at Spike, and looking to the side, thinking about everything he had just said, for what felt like hours.

Spike looked at her for a minute, thinking about how much she looked like a combination of the Slayer and Forehead. "They'd be proud of you, you know." Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears at that comment, she nodded her head in thanks to show she'd acknowledged the words.

"So-" Spike had decided to stop with the sappy conversation for now and bring it back to reality. "You said you needed to speak to me?" His voice was laden with curiosity.

'_Ah, what's wrong with me, i'm Forgetful Summers tonight_' she was lost in the thought of her parents more so than ever today. "Yeah… It was about the vampires earlier."

Spike raised his eyebrow in curiosity, "Oh?"

"Well, there were others… after I dusted the 4 vamps, there was clapping from behind them, I didn't even know they were there, but 2 vamps came out from the shadows-" she paused, letting the feeling the vamps gave her wash over her for a second, shivering. "I've never seen them before, but… they were old, that much I could tell, they radiated power, like how you and Dad do; _did_. But maybe even more powerful, it really gave me the wiggins."

"What did they look like?" Spike's curiosity was definitely piqued now, he was quite old by most vampire standards, not as old as Angel, but most of the older vampires these days were dust in the wind, most were of his age or younger, most actually, he thought grimly, were newly sired everyday.

"Well one was male, he wasn't just pale he was… white, a-and his features looked, like melted to his face, like he couldn't… unvamp."

Spike was getting a weird feeling in his gut… "...go on" he said, hoping his voice didn't come out shakily.

"The other was female, blonde, kinda pretty looking you know, she had the whole creature of the night thing working for her-" He was sure if he could sweat, Spike might be leaking out some moisture right now. "Oh and she said something, they seemed to know Mom and Dad, but the woman **reaaallyy** knew my Dad, she called him…"

"Dear Boy." Spike's interjection came before she had a chance to finish.

Lily's eyes immediately snapped to his, astonishment on her face. "Y-yeah, how did you know that?" Spike sat up straight, briskly getting out of his chair, turning around and walking a few paces, keeping his back to her. "Spike…? What is it?" She was worried now, Spike looked pissed, but if she didn't know any better, there was also a slight hint of fear and trepidation.

He threw his cigarette to the floor and crushed it under his boot before turning to face Lily again, she wasn't sure if she'd seen his face this serious since the death of her parents. "Darla… that was Darla, she was your father's sire, her pet nickname for him was… Dear Boy." He finished by leaning against the nearby pillar, knitting his brow in confusion.

His confusion however was only surpassed by Lily's surprise. "D-Darla!? But how, I thought she-"

Spike cut her off again. "She was… dust, that is, staked by Angel's own hand to protect your Mother no less. First vamp in istory to do it, who knew the Buffy whipped Angelus had it in him." Lily wasn't amused by the use of 'Angelus', Spike noticed and looked away.

"Sorry pet… i'm just, confused, how is this bloody possible! If she's here, resurrected or whatever it is, it can't be good." Lily would have to agree with that, she'd heard of the infamous Darla, but having been staked on the year her parents met, she'd never really gotten the low down on her, there didn't seem any point. "But it's the other sod that worries me…" Okay, Spike, worried, that **really** wasn't a good sign.

"Why…? Who is he…" Lily wasn't sure she wanted the answer, point 1 to reality, ignorant bliss had yet to score.

With a grim expression Spike held Lily's stare for a moment. "If your description is right… it's The Master."

She jumped up from the chair immediately. "**THE** Master!? Wha- how!? My Mom staked his ass years ago, beat him to a pulp, ground his bones to make our bread, she told me!" her anger was irrational but the reality is that inside, she was afraid, she may be confident in her own abilities, but her Mom was the greatest Slayer who ever lived, and The Master was one of the only enemies that was able to take her down, she'd heard the story from multiple sources many times even if Xander had probably exaggerated a little bit.

"I know, I know, but your description… it's him alright, the bloody bastards so old he lived beyond the 'curse' of human features, some curse that, he's downright ugly-" Spike temporarily stopped his little tirade, "But, he's dangerous, damn near killed your Mom; would have if not for Xander and Angel."

"Oh god…" Something had just hit her, something they had said.

Spike couldn't help but notice how she'd said it, "What's the matter?" he asked for clarification.

"They told me they were watching me, they didn't want to fight, said I had potential… they said I was… family." The last word came out almost breathless, like she understood what they had now said, but didn't want to believe it. She understood how Vampirism worked, first they had to suck your blood, then you suck their blood, it was like a whole big sucking thing, as her Mom had explained. But if The Master had sired Darla, and Darla had sired… then that meant...

"They're right… in a weird way, just as I am your family, from sire to sire… the blood of Aurelius is in your veins pet" He looked at her with some pity, not sure if she would consider it a curse. "The blood of your father, arguably the strongest vampire to ever live, but you aren't a vampire, my guess is they might see you as some kind of… evolution of the 'species', you are, after all, a bleedin miracle child of a Vampire and a Slayer."

'_Oh yay_' she thought '_They want me as their pet project…_' She looked down, sadness evident on her face.

Spike was quick to notice and reassure her. "Hey-" he tried to be gentle in tone. "We'll figure this out, they've been beaten before, we'll beat them again. They won't bloody touch you whilst i'm around. Besides, if you succeed tonight, we won't have to worry about this at all, will we."

He was right, she knew he was right, but she couldn't stop the nagging feeling in the back of her mind, that she should make a bigger deal of this, but she also needed to be focused, everyone was depending on her, to make things right, to make things as they should be.

"I worry Spike… but, you're right, tonight is more important right now." She glanced upwards at the clock, realizing they'd been talking for a hell of a lot longer than she anticipated.

The clanging of a door opening broke them both out of their stupor, as Faith walked in, she noticed the slight tension between the two. "Uhhh, sup guys, everything… good?"

Lily smiled up at Faith. "Yeah just some new big bads in town, nothing we can't handle." Faith wanted to push more but decided not to. "Are the twins in bed?"

Smiling at the change in subject she replied, "Yeah, they're five by five, all tucked up waiting for big sis to read them a story, i'd get in there quick if I was you, they won't sit patiently for long."

Lily laughed, heartily, '_No, they really would not would they_' she thought. "Okay, i'll head there now." she walked towards the door, stopping as she reached the handle to turn back and look at Spike. "Thanks Spike-" she smiled, "I'll see you guys in a bit okay."

With a smile, Spike nodded, "In a bit luv." Faith smiled too, only turning to Spike with a frown on her face after the door had closed behind Lily.

"What was that about, everything okay?" She noticed Spike's look, she'd seen it before, when Buffy and Angel had died, he looked broken back then, and it was scaring her now. She knew he'd be worried about Lily messing with time travel, hell they were all worried, but she sensed it was more than that.

When no answer came, she took hold of Spike's hand. For the first time, he looked at her and smiled. "Sorry pet, just thinking-" he paused, unsure of how to proceed. "The niblet was right, new big bads… though not as new as you think." he sighed, closing his other hand over his and Faith's already connected hand. "The Master and… Darla, they're back, somehow, she ran into them on her way here."

"What!? But I thought they were dead!? The big guy dusted Darla and B beat the Master, we know this." To say she was surprised was an understatement.

"I know pet, but her descriptions… it's definitely them, and she called Angel 'Dear Boy' only one person ever did that, I should know, i had to bloody hear it all the time." there was some disdain in his voice.

"So, they're here, we just dust em again right, no big deal." Faith was nothing if not confident in her Slaying abilities, something that had got her into trouble in the past.

"Maybe… but that's not what's bothering me. They said they were watching her, that she had potential, I have a feeling they got great big bloody plans for our little niblet, and none of them are good…" Spike wasn't known for seeing the big picture, Angel had reminded him of that many a time, but this one was clear to see. "They were dead, but...something… or someone is roaming around out there with the power and the means to resurrect two of the worlds deadliest vampires and that scares me more than those two, we don't know who this new player is, or what they are capable of."

Faith surmised that he was right, and it was troubling information. "We have to trust in Little B, she's as stubborn as her mother, we have to trust she will get it right tonight, that all this can be avoided."

Spike hoped it would be that simple, but nothing ever was, if this new player had the power to do what they've done… they could have the power to screw up their plans months in the making… he just hoped they wouldn't catch wind of what they all had planned before Lily could pull it off.

"Yeah… let's hope you're right luv."

* * *

**Chapter 2** /END


	3. Hereditary

\- **Lilium** -

* * *

**Summary** \- Lily Joyce Summers, daughter of Buffy and Angel, travels to the past in order to change the future and prevent a full-scale demonic war from being unleashed. Her mission? Stop her mothers death at the hands of Glory. ****Adopted and Re-imagined** B/A, S/F, W/O, X/D(future)**

**There will be mentions of other pairings however, like B/R, W/T, X/A, (B/S Friendship)**

**Adoption** \- This is a fanfiction idea adopted from Lady Dawson, of her brilliant, yet abandoned, fanfiction 'T_ime and Time Again_', I loved the idea and hated that it was abandoned, so the fic was adopted, I have kept the basic premise but I have drastically changed it to fit into a more original storyline, instead of a direct copy, though obviously the basic premise is still the same.

**Disclaimer - **The Buffyverse is owned by Joss and all relevant parties, some of the OC's are mine.

**Chapter Note**: Long chapter, hope you enjoy! Next chapter we see Lily back in time to Season 5 of Buffy and interacting with our well known and loved characters!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

'_Drip….drip….drip_'

The leaky tap was almost hypnotic in it's rhythm, not enough to be annoying, but enough that if you relaxed it might be able to lull you to sleep. It's not like they had the luxury of getting it fixed, not with everything going on around them. Normal everyday priorities like fixing plumbing were suddenly trivial in comparison to the everyday bloodshed that was thrust into their periphery a few years ago.

'_Drip….drip….drip_'

Lily had been staring into the mirror now for a good five minutes, lost in thought, her perceptions changing with every one that crossed her mind. The bathroom around her was nothing to write home about, after all, it was the employee bathroom of The Bronze, thankfully it was installed with a shower and a bath, but it was the only one in the whole building, meaning it was communal. Waiting times were a bitch.

'_Drip….drip….drip_'

She spared a glance down at the source of the dripping, water from the faucet leaking, if she stared hard enough she could swear the opaque density of the water changed to the thick red viscosity of blood, you would think she'd gone crazy, but at the tender age of 13, it wasn't weird to say that she had perhaps seen, and been covered in blood, more times than H20. Sign of the times.

'_What a depressing thought_' she idly mused.

The war had come at the expense of so many lives, friends, family, innocents caught in the crossfire. It had come all at once overnight and quickly spread across the world with it's brutality. Under the leadership of the old Scooby Gang, Angel Investigations and the Awakened Potentials, they had managed to set up resistances worldwide, with members splitting up and cornering different parts of the globe.

Giles, affectionately known as Grandpa Giles, headed up back in the old country, England, Aunty Dawn and Uncle Xander set up shop in Italy, Spike and Faith took their tryst to Africa, Willow and Oz had gone to Japan, Cordelia and Doyle had gone to Russia, Wesley and Lorne to the Middle East and Fred and Gunn had gone down under to Australia.

Of course, California, or more specifically _Sunnydale_, and it's hellmouth, was where it all started and this corner was headed by none other than her Mom and Dad, Buffy and Angel, the dream team, star crossed lovers, soul mates, peaches and cream, whatever you wanted to call them.

At first, things were going well, years of everybody fighting evil side by side had meant that they had able ability to co-ordinate well, plan strategically and keep damage to a minimum. News had always filtered in thick and fast but as more time passed, the worse the news got, it started off with team members going missing, awakened slayers being found dead. Radio silence started becoming more of the norm, and as humans and heroes started to lose more ground globally, team members had started to retreat back to home base in Sunnydale…. And from there?

Her train of thought immediately came to a halt, with a bolded full stop, it didn't bode well to dwell on past painful memories at the moment, there was time later to think about this, the only thing she should be thinking about was how none of it had to happen, all the pain and suffering could be avoided as long as they… **she**, could succeed. Stopping Mom from acting all noble and sacrificing herself, easy right?

'_Yeah right' _Lily scoffed with a smile '_I don't get my stubbornness from just anywhere.' _Her train of thought had her looking back into the mirror, giving herself an appraisal, after reading to the twins she figured she'd get cleaned up and get dressed to kill, after all, she was going back in time, she needed to look her best, she knew Mom would of.

She scrunched her face up and moved herself closer to the mirror, Lily could honestly say she loved her facial features, now she wasn't conceited in anyway, but i mean, her parents were good looking people! '_It's only natural some of that would pass down the line' _she thought with a little grin. Laughing slightly whilst pushing her nose up, the comparisons to Miss Piggy were apparent, '_This things definitely Moms_' she thought, idly putting a hand up to her hair, twirling the end around her finger lightly, vividly remembering a conversation she'd had with her mother in front of a mirror when she was younger, when extreme curiosity had compelled her to ask where she got her nose from.

* * *

_Her mom's humming had always had a calming affect on the boisterous child she was, running around with such an abundance of energy whilst her parents struggled to keep up. But right now, sat on her mother's lap in front of the vanity mirror, little legs swinging to and fro, she felt content to sit idly by as her mother did her hair._

_Let it be known that Buffy Summers was not a patient woman, and normally by now she'd of pouted about putting such intricate work into styling her daughters hair, but after Angel had showed off with his Celtic knots, which by the way, she found hilarious, even if it was sweet that he'd styled his sisters hair when he was young, she was determined for him to teach her, and for her to 'slay' her daughters thick rebellious locks in her typical 'Buffster style' as Xander liked to put._

"_Damn thick Irish hair" Buffy mumbled almost unintelligibly for the normal human to hear._

_Lily wasn't a normal human child however. "Whas wrong momma?" she asked, a curious inflection to her innocent childlike voice. Now Lily was considered an intelligent child, even by an older child's standards, this was to be expected considering her parentage, always asking questions, always wanting to know about the world around her. This, Buffy surmised, was why she found it funny that whilst she was about to reply to her daughters question, she noticed that her child could not stop playing with her own little nose, pushing it up and down multiple times, pulling it from side to side and making herself look like a little piggy. All the while scrunching her face up in a little ball of concentration and giving herself a stare out in the mirror._

"_Sweetie… what are you doing?" Buffy asked, breaking out into a full blown grin, her daughter amazed her every day, she was her little miracle._

_Lily stopped what she was doing to look directly into her Mother's eyes through the mirror. "Momma… where my nose come from?"_

_Buffy couldn't help but burst out laughing, true she was amazed everyday, but she was also surprised, which was kind of amazing considering these kinds of things were a regular occurrence now. Curbing her laughter she managed ask "What do you mean sweetie?"_

_There was a dramatic pause, a thoughtful expression on Lily's face whilst Buffy eyed her with barely concealed amusement, 'So much like Angel' she thought dreamily._

"_Well… heard Daddy say you gave Auny Daw your nose, and, and, your nose is from Gamma Joy-" She paused again, giving some thought to what she was saying, whilst Buffy suppressed a giggle at her daughters butchering of the English language, 'I'm sure Giles would have a fit hearing this' she thought. "He said your nose most beaful in tire world-" putting her arms out wide for dramatic effect. "So.. where mine from? Is mine beaful to?" _

_Buffy could cry at the childlike innocence, she really could. 'Trust Angel to say something like that, he really is the sweetest guy,' she had always held negative notions about her nose, she wasn't immune to noticing how slightly odd it looked towards the end, but she came to love it, Angel's constant confessions of how he loved it may of helped just a __**teency**_ _bit, but she ultimately came to realize just how unique her nose was, and how distinguished it made her look, and she liked that._

"_Well sweetie-" she moved her head to the side of her daughters so that their heads were side to side; she then poked her nose. "Take a good look at my nose, it looks exactly like yours, see!" She wiggled it for effect._

_It slowly dawned on Lily what she was seeing, a painfully slow smile started to spread on her face in realization. "They same!" she exclaimed in excitement._

"_That's right, you know what that means?" Buffy said._

"_Wha, wha!" Her daughter was bouncing in excitement now._

"_Well, it means that i gave my nose to you! You have the Summers nose." Buffy wasn't sure if she had sounded any prouder that she had at this moment. "Daddy said i had the most beautiful nose, and if I gave you my nose, that means you have the most beautiful nose to! Momma and Daddy approved!"_

"_YAY! I have beaful nose too! Jus like Momma!" She turned her face to look at Buffy's with a face-splitting grin._

_Buffy kissed her nose lightly which caused Lily to giggle. "That's right sweetie-" she leaned back to resume sorting her daughters hair again as she turned back to look at the mirror, the grin never leaving the little girl's face. "But that's not all… see this reaaally thick chocolate hair that Momma's having such a hard time with at the moment?"_

"_Uh-huh?" Lily said giggling slightly._

"_Well Daddy gave this to you, see, Momma's hair is blonde, but yours is chocolate just like Daddy's." She ended with a kiss to her daughters crown._

"_Does taste like choclit to?" Innocent minds do wonder._

_Laughing, Buffy replied. "Let's find out!" She playfully bit her daughters hair, growling, which sent Lily into a giggle fit._

"_Stop Moma!" But the giggling didn't stop._

"_And these eyes?" She pointed to her daughters eye, as well as one of her own. "Mine too, see! I gave you my green sparkly eyes. But yours are even more special, you have tiny dots of brown in your eyes, that's your Daddy's eyes trying to steal my thunder!" she pouted slightly._

"_Does Daddy love your eyes to?" Lily asked._

"_Mmhm, he says they are one of the best things I have, so be grateful I gave them to you, the last thing i need is competition." She eyed her daughter with an amused look._

_Lily let out a slight laugh. "What els?" She was curious now._

"_Welllllll, you have my big goofy smile, but you have your Daddy's lips, and cheek bones-" Buffy said whilst puffing out her own cheeks with a serious face and simultaneously pushing in her daughters, causing her again to giggle._

_Buffy looked serious for a moment, but looked at her daughter with admiration… "You are our miracle child, you have all the best parts of both me and your Daddy… even if your attitude is more mine-" She couldn't help the mischievous smile that came to her face knowing how much of a little troublemaker Lily could be, Angel would always mutter about 'troublesome Summers women' and it 'running in the family.' She'd roll her eyes and laugh but deep down she knew what a pain she'd been when she was younger, as was Dawn, her mother would always remind them of this. "...and do you know why?"_

_Lily shook her head._

"_It's because we love you, more than anything in this world, we gave you all of our best parts because you are our little Lily, our symbol of innocence, purity and beauty." Buffy couldn't hold back the happy tears at this point._

"_Don cry Momma." Lily looked back at her mother with concern, putting her tiny arms as far around her Mother as she could. "Lov you."_

_She couldn't pull her daughter into a hug any closer if she tried._

"_Love you too sweetheart."_

* * *

'_Drip… drip…._'

The dripping stopped at two. Lily was lost in her own eyes looking into the mirror, had she been paying attention, she'd no doubt notice that the dripping sound wasn't from the tap anymore, but from the tears falling down her smiling face and hitting the sink below.

It took a minute for her to gather herself from her thoughts, thoughts of happier times, when her Mom was alive and shielded her from all the pain and hurt of this world. But she didn't have that comfort anymore, sure she had the others, but inside, she was missing the safety net of her parents. She was surrounded by people, but sometimes, she felt truly alone.

Wiping her tear stained cheeks with the back of her hand, she gave herself another quick look over, making sure she was presentable. Her chocolate tresses in one of her favorite Celtic braids, the excess hanging over her shoulder '_A favorite of Mom and Dad's too_' she thought proudly, remembering how long it took for her Dad to teach it to her Mom. Green eyes with brown flecks, good bone structure, her Mother's nose, although she idly poked the nose ring that sat there now, chalk it up to a rebellious moment she'd had around 6 months ago, that wasn't at all facilitated by Spike she'd have you know… she wondered how her parents would react if they were alive, they'd probably skin Spike alive, a thought that made her laugh and… inwardly cringe.

Looking down at her apparel, a white baseball tee with black sleeves, covered by a green cargo jacket, a gift from Faith. Slim navy jeans, slightly ripped at the knees, rolled up above the ankle to show frilly socks poking out from the top of her favorite yellow Doc Martens shoes, '_Perfect for kicking vamp ass and looking like a total __bad-ass_' she thought with a smirk.

Smoothing her hands down her sides, she noticed the ring on her finger and smiled sadly. Bringing the ring up to her face, she idly fingered the intricate design of the silver ring… heart, sided by two hands and crowned with a… well.. Crown; a Claddagh ring. Her heart ached at the thought of the gift her mother had given her on her birthday, a few months before she… Well, that was neither here or there. She knew of the tradition of Claddagh rings, after all, her father was from Galway in Ireland, and he and her Mother both had their own rings, one that he had given to her Mother on her own 17th Birthday as a gift, although the meaning was different. For them it was a sign of devotion, love and… weirdly; marriage? But there was another tradition for the Claddagh ring that wasn't as well known, it was the passing of a Claddagh ring from Mother to Daughter, something to commemorate the love for a daughter for centuries. Dad had given Mom the idea and she had loved it, she remembered sitting on her bed when her Mother had given her the ring and quoted "_With these hands, I give you my heart and I crown it with my love._" They'd spent the rest of the day practically crying into tubs of ice cream, they were stupidly sentimental folk like that.

Coming out of her reverie, she pulled the necklace chain out from beneath her t-shirt, where two Claddagh rings were held, one slightly bigger than the other, indicating it probably belonged to a male.

They were the only things to be recovered from the bodies of her parents, sure she had gifts and other sentimental objects that had been given or inherited over the years, but these items were dear to her parents, and because they were the only things recovered, she treasured these almost more than anything else, and kept them close to her heart, where they both currently belonged.

Grasping the rings tightly in her hand, she took one last look at the mirror, deciding she'd spent enough time in the bathroom, '_They're probably worried about me out there by now' _she thought_._

Setting her face to determined mode, she kissed the rings in her hands and set them back down.

"Mom, Dad… I will not fail you."

She stalked out of the bathroom with a determination she never knew she possessed.

* * *

"Okay so… we're pretty confident about this, this time, right?"

Standing in the middle of the room with everybody around looking at her, Lily suddenly felt a little self conscious. A very detailed and crafted pattern lay in chalk underneath her feet with her at it's focal point, Sam, Roselyn, Alex, Weronika, Spike and Faith sat cross legged around the outside of the circle with lit candles in their hands.

No answer was forthcoming. "Uh… guys? Confidence, gimme, now!" Okay now she was beginning to sweat a little.

Spike smirked. "Oh yeah total confidence in this one pet."

Lily groaned. "Well, you went all Edward Elric on the floor, that has to count for something right?"

Rozzy chose this moment to pipe up. "Exactly, it took us a few hours to do this, we wouldn't of wasted our time if we weren't extremely 100% confident that this was going to work." her face full of steely determination.

"100%" Ah Sam with the ever flowing conversation.

"Just keep Spike away from this one." Alex grinned at the vampire.

Weronika and Faith couldn't help but chuckle at the expense of Spike, whilst he just glared at the kid. "Why you-" he was about to show this kid what for.

"Don't!" Spike froze to the spot as Rozzy's voice carried across the whole room. "Don't move you dumb-ass, move now and it will break the ritual!" okay, a good reason to be ticked off.

Spike grumbled to himself something about paying back snot nosed little brats later whilst Faith just winked at him with a smile. He sighed. "Okay, run this by me one more time Little Red Riding Witch, what comes next?"

Choosing to ignore the comment, Rozzy explained the next stage of the ritual. "Well, Lily has the key in her pocket-"

Lily pulled it out, "Check! I am the master of unlocking!" she said dramatically pushing the key forward and turning it in mid air. Deadpan stares was all she received in return. "Well excuse me for trying to lighten the mood jeez."

A collective roll of the eyes brought them back into the room. "Okay, so when the time comes, a keyhole will appear in the middle of the floor, she inserts the key and turns it, unlocking the portal for her to jump into, Lily, remember to think about the time period you want to go back to. I'm thinking you want at least a few weeks before the final battle with Glory right? I know you want to stop your father from doing something... stupid... with Darla too, so maybe around that time?" Rozzy was careful to phrase her words right.

"Yeah… sounds good, save Mom, stop Dad from going off the deep end, bring them together to help with the fight, try not to reveal secret identity although **that**, might be the hardest thing to do." It was true, the temptation to reveal would be hugely great, she wasn't sure how she would react after not seeing them for so long.

"Easy." Sam piped up.

"Well, it's not like you can't reveal your identity, infact, if you feel like there is a situation in which you need to, you can do it, we just figure the least you influence events the better chance things do not change so drastically… you know, apart from the one major event we need to change." Rozzy surmised.

Lily nodded, this made sense.

Faith butted in for the first time since they'd gathered here. "Okay we get this part Red, but what do all do on the outside here?"

"Ah well, in order for the keyhole to appear, I have to start the incantation, we need all of us to be the focal point for the energy, and facilitate it into the center of the symbol, we are the conduits if you will… when I finish the incantation, you should feel yourself filled with mystical energy, when this happens, we blow out our candles, and then the keyhole should appear." She had this down to a tee. "Everybody clear?"

There was collective nods all around.

"Um…. will Lily be okay?" The small voice of Weronika let itself be known for the first time too.

Lily smiled at her friends concern. She pumped her fist in defiance. "Of course Nika, piece of cake." Weronika smiled in return.

"Okay… if that's everything, shall we start?" Even if you listened closely, you could hear no trepidation in Rozzy's voice, she was ready for this.

When nobody objected she closed her eyes, took a big breath and began to chan- "OH!" she shouted, waving her arms around dramatically, her outburst surprising everyone.

"Bloody hell Little Red, could you not give us a damn heart attack!" Spike shook his head.

Rozzy grinned sheepishly. "Sorry… Lily, i forgot to mention, as we can't say anything once we've blown out the candles, when the keyhole appears make sure to say the phrase 'ostende mihi viam,' it means 'show me the way' okay?"

"Ostrich Mini Viacom, gotcha!" Lily said with a big grin.

If there were any crickets, they'd probably sound like giant African drums at this point. "Tough crowd tonight" she grumbled quietly. "Yes I got it, no problem, let's just do this." she nodded with conviction.

"Ah one other thing-" Faith put her hand up and looked at Rozzy, who looked annoyed, "Sorry Roz" Faith grinned, Rozzy backed off slightly before Faith turned to look at Lily, "Where you go I won't be there… yet, I don't know if you want to seek me out, I wasn't exactly the best person back then, I trust you'll know what to do, but if you feel like you need me to help, convincing the past me might be a bit, ah… difficult, as much as the me now wants to help." Faith looked down a bit embarrassed.

Before Lily could reply, Spike climbed aboard the moment. "Same here pet, when you go back, i won't be as whipped as I am now, take it easy on ol Spike yeah? I might need less convincing than Faith here, but that doesn't mean i'll co-operate so easily." He paused to sigh. "If you have any trouble, blackmail me if you have to, but make sure I help, I know i was helping out Buffy and Dawn back then, even if I had my own priorities, but… I also know you will try to contact Peaches, and if you really need to convince me, get him to, can't ignore that bloody sire-childe connection see." He looked a little miffed revealing that, but vampire lore was vampire lore, no denying it.

Lily smiled sadly, not knowing exactly what to say, the reality of the situation she was about to find herself in was really hitting home now, all the people she knew now, wouldn't exist, or would be totally different to the people she come to know and love now. "Yeah, i'll take care of you guys…"

Sensing Lily's sadness, Alex perked up. "Hey, we'll be okay cuz, we will, just remember to take note of my Dad's stupid jokes so I can get a record of them okay." he smiled.

Despite the situation Lily laughed, "Sure thing Alex…" She paused, looking around her at everyone before looking down to her feet, shuffling them in nervousness. "I'm going to miss you all, I'm not going to…" God she sounded lame. "...please, look after the twins for me, they don't fully understand."

They all smiled in understanding. "Will do Lil B, will do." Faith said, Spike grabbing her hand in solidarity, they shared a small sweet smile between them.

Turning her attention to Rozzy. "Right, let's do it."

Nodding her head, Rozzy closed her eyes and took another deep breath.

"I love you all, remember that." Lily had to get that last word in.

Rozzy's voice came out low and throaty, the Latin rolling off her tongue like a professional, her eyes as black as midnight.

Everyone exchanged looks, the ritual had begun.

"_**Via temporis, iam clamo ad te via spatti."**_

Lily looked around her, making sure to memorize the moment here between her and her family, who knows when she would see them again, and how the situation would be different, this could very well be the last time she saw any of them, though she hoped this was not the case….

"_**Te ubio, aperire...Aperi!" **_Rozzy's voice was louder…

'_This is it' _Lily thought. '_The world changes from now, for my friends, for my family, for the world…' _Her last thought was of the twins, quietly tucked up in bed, unaware of the events their older sister was about to embark on.

* * *

_Still feeling yucky from the nights earlier events, Lily put her smelly situation to one side to focus on the twins, currently waiting for her in bed, well, hopefully, 'I don't have the energy to chase the two of them around the room the little pests.' she thought with a wry smile._

_Silently approaching the door, she opened it a crack to peek inside, noticing both Liam and Katherine huddled together in hushed whispers, pawing over the contents of a book they held in their hands, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' the cover read, 'How ironic' Lily thought, 'when i'll be doing my best Alice impression later.'_

_Throwing the door open she jumped onto the bed with such quick speed that the twins hardly had any time to react before they were being tickled. The giggling fit lasted for what felt like an age._

"_Starting without me are you!" Lily exclaimed whilst laughing._

"_N-no Lily, stop!" Little Kathy managed to get out between her guffaws._

"_Onest! We just sited!" Liam exclaimed._

_Lily stopped, giving them both a moment to breathe. "Come here." Her arms open wide._

_Needing no other invitation, the twins jumped into her arms for a family hug._

"_You know how much I love you both right?" Pride shone through in her words, and it heartfelt._

"_Lov you swell" she heard through muffled voices, making Lily smile._

"_Okay-" she let go of both of them, much to their dismay, and settled them back into bed. They looked at her with expectant faces and she couldn't help but really look at both of them. Both of them were like little doubles of her parents. Whilst she might of inherited the best of both worlds, looks wise, the twins were almost like little clones, something that greatly upset her and yet… it filled her with the most joy at the same time, she hoped her parents were looking down on the twins and the amazing, fun and loving children they had become since they had passed away. At such a young age they didn't need to see what a monstrosity the world had become, they had enough to deal with, like losing their parents at the tender age of 3, in some ways Lily was thankful that they were young enough to not really understand the loss and pain in such a significant way, but angry at the same time at how unfair it was that they had barely known their parents. "So… where were we." she asked them._

_Kathy held out the Alice book excitedly whilst Liam grinned at her. "Here! We read this."_

"_Ah yes, let's see where we last left Alice shall we?" Lily grinned at the twins, ruffling their hair as the lay back, snuggled into their giant bed and looked at her with wide expectant eyes._

"_So…" _

_Lily read to them from the pages of Alice's adventure down the rabbit hole for what felt like an age, but not long enough for Lily's liking. Crazy tales of Cheshire Cats and Mad Hatters were enough to fill any child's imagination to the brim with colorful whimsy and exciting opportunities, and it was a darn sight better than filling their heads with tales of demon beheading and ritualistic incantations, she wanted to preserve their innocence for as long as possible, even if that seemed like an impossible task with Spike around._

"_**Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' Alice said**_

_**'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.**_

_**'I don't much care where -' said Alice.**_

_**'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.**_

_**'- so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.**_

_**'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough**__."_

_She smiled reading that last passage, an almost dramatic irony, she knew where she had to go, she only hoped she was as brave as Alice when she tumbles down her own rabbit hole. _

_Her pause must of been long enough because, even in their half sleepy state the twins spoke up._

"_Lily." Liam asked… "ar you gon leave us?" Before she could reply, Kathy took the opportunity to finish what Liam was thinking. "...like mama an papa?" her voice was so low Lily almost didn't hear it, but she did, she could feel sadness and fear coming from her tiny broken voice... and it shattered her heart._

_She closed the book swiftly and leaned in closer to the children, putting a hand on each of their cheeks. "No little ones." Her voice broke a little. "I'm.. i'm not leaving you, ever. I will always be here." she rested her hands over each of their small beating hearts, she just couldn't lie to them. "But there is something I have to do." she said sadly._

"_You gon help mama and papa." If Lily was surprised at Kathy's admission, she didn't show it, but she let a small smile grace her face._

"_Yes Kathy, i'm going to help mama and papa." Even in their hazy sleep filled state, the twins managed to smile at her._

"_You gon bring back?" Liam mumbled._

"_Yes, I promise." Lily's voice had regained it's confidence. She closed her eyes and carried on in a whisper, letting a single tear fall from her eyes. "I will do anything for the both of you. You are my entire world... what happened to us, to everyone, isn't fair. I have the power to change that, to bring back the mama's and papa's of people all around the world. I'm going to do it, i'm going to show the powers that life doesn't have to be unfair, that we don't always have to suffer, that love __**will**_ _win out above everything else. That is my promise to you both, I want Mama and Papa to watch you grow up and I want you to watch them grow old, all of us…. Together…"_

_She took a moment to catch her breath, the moment catching up with her. When she opened her eyes she noticed the twins were fast asleep, tiny thumbs in their mouths with steady breath, leaning on each other for support._

_She didn't know how much they had heard of her little speech, but she silently sobbed and put her forehead to their heads, dripping salty tears on them. "I love you both so much." she whispered, staying this way for a minute, trying to stop the flow of tears._

_When she had finally calmed down, she moved off the bed with minute movements and pulled the blanket up tighter around them to tuck them in more, before turning to exit the room. Before she could however, something caught her eye. She smiled sadly, walking over to pick up the small stuffed pig from the night stand and taking it back to the bed._

_Carefully placing it in between their hands she said. "Take care of them Mr Gordo." before placing soft kisses on each of their heads._

_Silently she trudged to the door, opening it softly, she took one last look at the twins, safe and warm in their bed. "See you soon guys."_

_She left violently resisting the urge to run back and protect them in her arms._

* * *

Opening her eyes, a solitary tear made it's way down her cheek, but you could be forgiven for missing it when you noticed the looked of steely determination in the pools of green Lily possessed. She violently jerked the gateway key from her pocket.

_**"Via concurssus, tempos spatium admi ut imperio!" **_Rozzy's final command shook the walls of the room, the energy in the room was so thick you could almost taste it.

Suddenly the room was plunged into darkness as each and every candle was blown out by their holders.

An eery silence permeated the air before the faintest pinprick of a blue glow appeared beneath Lily's feet. It started as a droplet, that quickly spread through the design on the floor like wildfire, lighting up the room and all it's occupants in it's path, screeching in distaste as it carved through the wooden floorboards like a knife through butter.

Lily looked down, and from the beginnings of the small hole, spread the makings of an opening, big enough to just fit a key. The one she just so happened to be holding.

She closed her eyes, '_Okay…_' she thought '_**IT'S NOW OR NEVER!**_'

With a scream that gradually got louder as she descended, she thrust herself violently down to the ground on one knee, slamming the key in the hole.

She looked up, into the face of Rozzy, who looked on with both fascination and apprehension.

"_**OSTENDE MIHI VIAM!" **_she screamed.

Twisting the key in the lock, the effect was immediate, energy spread from the keyhole in all sides, widening enough to allow a person to get through, the only issue was it was on the floor, taking away Lily's standing support from beneath her.

Screaming as she fell through the air, Lily's grasp slipped from the key that she held tightly, as it flung back into the room, hitting Spike square in the chest as it did so.

Then just as quickly as she was there, Lily was gone, in one fell swoop, for what seemed like an eternity she was falling through the air in suspended animation, before the portal awakened fully and sucked her in with all the power of a Henry Hoover.

Her screaming echoed in the room, but as she was seemingly dragged down further through the portal, the volume lessened and lessened as the portal closed in on itself.

Within seconds, a deafening silence was felt, as the occupants of the room sat in darkness, the portal fully closing, taking it's light, and Lily, along with it.

Nobody dared speak for what seemed like an hour. Only the tell tale scratching of a match brought everyone back to reality.

Through the now dim match light everybody looked at each other, shock evident on all their faces. It was Spike who finally broke eye contact, moving his head down to look at the contents of his lap. Carefully he moved his hand to pick up the object, it was the Portal Key.

He held it up for everyone to see, all of them again exchanging worried looks.

But it was Spike again that broke the deadlock.

"Oh, bugger."

* * *

CHAPTER 3/ **END**


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